Thursday, December 18, 2014

What is Coming in January?

Dear 4B Families,

I write today to share how we will jump back into learning in January. I realize you're packing for your trips, so I'll keep it short...

For literacy, we will spend the month of January working on poetry reading and writing. Simultaneously, we will have a publishing unit for our Nonfiction books. This will allow us to add more Text Features and revise and edit. Then, I will print these books in colour so that kids can keep them as a "keepsake". 

February 13 is the deadline for the next Raptor Reader and many 4B kids want to submit a piece for publishing. Nonfiction books can be submitted too! We will have many poems written by then as well. Some kids have continued to write stories at home and those can also be submitted.

For science, we we have a hands-on unit for the study of solar energy that begins with a shadow tracking activity. We spend a lot of time outside, so buy some quality sun-screen or a great hat for your 4B child. 

For math, the study of decimals will continue and we will have another summative math assessment at the end of January. The study of measurement will begin to show up mixed through the math curriculum. For example, we will have a cooking day and we will pull out the measuring cups.

Below is a repeat from the last news about decimals:
For math, we have completed our summative assessment for multiplication and division unit 3 and we are shifting to a study of decimals. After break, we will work on measurement and then spiral back to decimals and fractions; fraction equivalents; and operations with fractions.

To begin our study of decimals, we want to learn how to read numbers, such as 3.2 or 3.02 or 5.607. We are working with tenths, hundredths, and thousandths in grade 4. We will learn to add, subtract and multiply with decimals too. Then, we will begin to see that .2 is the same as 2/10 and .02 is the same as 2/100.

Unit Four I Can Statements
  • I can read decimals through the thousandths fluently, such as 3.405 or 0.5 or 1.05
  • I can use decimals and fractions to show equivalents for tenths and hudrendths, such as .3 is 3/10 and .06 is 6/100. We also call this "Many Names For"
  • I can compare two decimals to thousandths by reasoning about their size, such as .34 and .345. .345 is greater than .34 because it is 5 thousandths larger
  • I can order decimals least to greatest or greatest to least
  • I can add and subtract and multiply decimals
  • I can plot decimals on a number line 
Have a great break,
Ms. T 

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